Andrew

A few days ago he was asking me what I knew about Greek gods…and I told him what I could remember and he kept saying “okay, so tell me more.” until I ran out of knowledge of Greek gods and ended up just ordering him a book about it off of Amazon.

He was tying his shoes the other day and sighed wistfully and said “I want to know all I can about engineering. I just love it so much. I want to know how *everything* works: clocks, fans, computers, lights…the more complex it is, the more I want to know how it works! It just interests me so much!”

This morning the first thing he said to me, as he sat down for breakfast was “I want to know adult math. Like the kind of math that kids don’t understand. Like the kind of math that doesn’t even use numbers, really. It just uses all kinds of signs.”

What strikes me about all of this is how accessible he finds this stuff. He truly believes that he just needs to be taught something and then he will know it. And, I guess he’s right…but I don’t think about it that way. I tend to think of limits and how likely it is that I *won’t* be able understand something. Gosh, there is SO much I don’t understand…and it leaves me feeling puzzled and resigned. But, at least at this point, when Andrew doesn’t understand something, he feels motivated to learn it. He thinks he just needs to be taught about it. I envy his openness to experiment and learn. I envy it about him…and I love it about him too. :)

He turns 9 tomorrow. I never thought I’d like this part of parenting. This older kid, wonky teeth, too many silly jokes parts of parenting…but it turns out I REALLY like this part. Sometimes I walk by a mama cooing over her baby and I think “just wait. it only gets better.”

About robyn

I stopped teaching Kindergarten in 2005 to become the mom of two crazy boys here in Brooklyn. At first I thought being a stay at home mom meant that I needed to pour all my time and energy directly into my sons, but I realized somewhere along the way that being a rockstar mom meant not only taking good care of my boys, but also taking good care of myself. And taking good care of myself means pursuing something creative...just about everyday. I started Made In Brooklyn to motivate myself in my creative goals as well as share my work with others and perhaps inspire them in their own creative journeys.

One Response to Andrew

Aw, I love this post, Robyn. I think it’s awesome that Andrew has the confidence to learn whatever he wants to know! May he always have that craving for knowledge, and may he have a very happy birthday!

And I think that every stage of growing up has it’s challenges and joys! You’ll know that even when he hits his 20’s (and is officially an engineer)!

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Made in Brooklyn is my place to document my creative journey, from bread to babies, cards to cakes. You are welcome to come and join me for a while.

I stopped teaching Kindergarten in 2005 to become the mom of two crazy boys here in Brooklyn. At first I thought being a stay at home mom meant that I needed to pour all my time and energy directly into my sons, but I realized somewhere along the way that being a rockstar mom meant not only taking good care of my boys, but also taking good care of myself. And taking good care of myself means pursuing something creative...just about everyday. I started Made In Brooklyn to motivate myself in my creative goals as well as share my work with others and perhaps inspire them in their own creative journeys.